In It Together
by SupremeZombieLord
Summary: Sequel to The Middle Of The End. Callie and Daryl have been through a lot together, and somehow managed to not let anything tear them apart. But with an unforeseen turn of events, they face uncertainty and insurmountable loss. Everything they have grown to love has been taken from them - but will that cause them to go their separate ways, or will it bring them closer?


Chapter One: Then

Those of us who made it off the farm alive spent the winter on the road, not staying in the same place for more than two days (although we did hide out in some storage lockers for a good three weeks). It was very hard, and what little food we did find was split between us, with the younger ones and Lori getting the most. She was little over nine months pregnant when we found the prison - it was cleared of walkers and we moved right in.

Everything seemed to happen very quick; Hershel lost a leg on the very first day, after being bit and Rick having to amputate with his new favourite weapon, an axe. We didn't expect to find inmates who were still alive but we did, hiding out in the cafeteria. Several of them were really bad guys and Rick had no choice but to kill them after they tried to kill him. One of them somehow went missing, or ran away, I'm not entirely sure, and two of them stayed.

On the fifth day, walkers managed to find a way in and we lost T-Dog and Lori. Lori died giving birth to a daughter, who Carl later named Judith. Rick was so overcome with shock and grief when he heard what had happened to Lori and disappeared on a walker killing spree. What's even worse is that Carl had been the one to shoot her before she'd had the chance to turn into one of them and he hasn't been the same since.

Glenn and Maggie left for baby formula, bottles, and diapers. They ended up running into Merle, who worked for some lunatic that called himself the Governor, and he kidnapped them. A woman named Michonne led Rick and all our remaining able-bodied men to Woodbury, the Governor's town, and somehow got Glenn and Maggie back. They were for the most part okay, minus the mental and physical trauma they'd gone through.

But somehow Daryl had been captured in the process.

The Governor ordered Merle and Daryl to fight to the death, while the whole town watched and called out for bloodshed. Of course, Merle had an escape plan, which worked. On the way back to the prison they'd decided to go off on their own and when they didn't return with the rest of the group I was hurt. I felt abandoned and in a way betrayed. Even though they came back before sunset, which I was very glad they did, I didn't forgive him for just leaving with no thought of me or Alfie. We had a huge fight that resulted in him being kicked out of the cell we shared.

The situation with Woodbury escalated drastically when the Governor threatened to attack the prison unless we gave him Michonne. We didn't, of course we didn't. Merle, stupid Merle, nearly left with her tied up in the backseat of a car when someone caught him and Daryl put a stop to his idiot brothers idea. We, as a group, knew the land surrounding the prison quite well and because we also knew when the Governor planned to attack, concocted our own plans of defence. Hershel, Beth, and I drove the kids out half a mile away from the prison while the rest of the group made it look like we'd just up and left the place for good. They would then hide, and wait for the perfect moment to defend our new home.

We hadn't been there long when a boy not much older than Beth stumbled upon us. He hardly got three words out when Carl made it his responsibility to shoot him. He hadn't been a threat, didn't even have a gun on him. It was absolutely unnecessary, and I sent him to sit in the car with his sister and Alfie. He showed no signs of remorse and that frightened me.

Gunshots came from the prison and we waited in the minivan while things quieted down. Maggie, Daryl, and Glenn let us know when it was safe and we were back in our cells within the hour. Rick and most of the men went to Woodbury and when they came back with two bus loads of women, children, and elderly, we learned they had been abandoned and left to fend for themselves. They were welcomed with open arms and over the next couple months our numbers grew.

Daryl, Michonne, and sometimes Merle were often gone searching for the Governor, always with little to no results. At some point Daryl gave up and instead devoted that time to hunting fresh game; I joined him sometimes and he taught me how to track both walkers and the living, as well as animals. The one on one time gave us a chance to work on our relationship without distraction. It was a nice change.

At some point Rick stepped down as leader, I'm not sure when exactly. It was gradual. But he needed the time off, to take care of himself and focus on his children. Carl was in dire need of guidance from his father and he was definitely getting it - his weapons had been taken away indefinitely. A Town Council was formed, and it's members included Daryl, Hershel and Carol, Maggie and Glenn, with several people from the Woodbury group. I'd been asked to join but refused, not really wanting that type of responsibility. Meetings were held every two weeks, followed by group discussions with everyone living in the prison. That's where problems and disagreements were resolved, decisions were made, where rules were set and agreed upon.

Among the people, Daryl and Glenn were very popular. Glenn is understandable; I don't know why they liked Daryl so much, when he was so grouchy looking, standoffish, so brooding and mysterious. He was very respected and everyone looked up to him. They wanted to know what his opinions were, to be around him. I guess all that positive attention scared him and that's why he spent so much time away hunting or going on supply runs. Sometimes he would bring other people back and we gave them a safe place to stay until they were ready to leave. Most people often chose to stay for good.

Judith couldn't have been older than five months when we were hit with a deadly flu strain. Even though we had an actual doctor, he quickly became sick too. Beth and I led those most at risk away from the cell blocks while the sick were moved to death row (how ironic). Daryl took a group on a run to some veterinary college, where Hershel said the antibiotics we needed desperately would be. In the short time they were gone, the doctor and some of his patients died. They returned the next morning with enough antibiotics and painkillers to last a long time.

Four days pass.

The sick grow stronger with every passing hour and some are able to get up and walk around outside. I was sitting in my cell, reading a Harry Potter book to Alfie, when it happened. We didn't hear the shouting at first until the first gunshots were fired. Then there was just gunfire, lots of it. And then came the explosion. I carried Alfie and we got out, but just barely, and spend days wandering the surrounding woods. We eat what we can, mostly wild berries and mushrooms; its when we're looking for food when we see the sign for a place called Terminus. I knew the others would head there, but I had a gut feeling that it was a trap.

Who advertises that they have a safe place? That they're willing to share their supplies? Especially now, with bad people who will take everything you have in order for them to survive? But we needed to go somewhere. I needed to take Alfie somewhere with real food, because he grew weak from lack of food and water. So we followed the railway tracks like the sign said. At least we did until Carol showed herself and said she had been following us for the past hour. She told us to climb a tree, to wait there until she came back.

And that is where we are now.


End file.
